Shedding, a Sure Sign of Spring

Ahh… spring is on the horizon. I know because I'm covered in horse hair. I seem to be wearing a bit of Skip everywhere I go. It may not feel like it in some parts of the country, but the start of shedding season is a sure sign of spring's impending arrival. The days are getting longer with more hours of sunlight, which triggers your horse to start shedding his winter coat.

Keeping your tack from looking like a gorilla during shedding season takes some effort. While hair seems to accumulate everywhere, the biggest problems will be the underside (horse-side) of your saddle pad or blanket and your cinch.

Some folks just take the approach of waiting til the shedding is done before they clean their tack. They clean it once and then their done. That's probably not a bad approach. Horse hair is actually a great material for both saddle pads and cinches, so having a layer of it on your gear probably won't affect its performance too much.

Maybe I'm a bit obsessive, but I tend to clean my gear regularly through shedding season. Part of my reason, is pure appearance. I don't like the way my tack looks with all that hair all over it. But the other part is because the hair builds up unevenly and can cause irritation to the horse. With a reguar cleaning of the hair build-up, I can prevent that.